Steam air cabinet finisher

ABSTRACT

A steam air finisher having an enclosure defining cabinet including a door that can be opened to provide access to the enclosure, a garment support rack or holder and means mounting the rack to move between an outer loading and unloading position generally outside the cabinet enclosure and an inner operating position and linkage connecting the door to the rack that causes such rack movement upon movement of the door between its open and closed positions, whereby garments to be finished are typically hung on conventional hangers which in turn are hooked on the rack and carried thereon, shaker mechanism located within the cabinet which cooperates with the rack when the latter is in the inner position to mechanically reciprocate the hanger crosswise to the normal plane of the hung garment, steam inlet means located near the bottom of the enclosure also including an opening for admitting outside air into the enclosure concurrently with and upon the discharge of steam for cooling the steam yet providing a high humidity conditioning atmosphere, means for circulating drying fluid over the garments including a blower having an inlet located near the bottom of the enclosure and an outlet to a passage separate from the enclosure with a heat exchanger in the passage between the blower outlet and the passage return to the enclosure near the top thereof effective for circulating heated fluid, such as air downwardly over and past the garments, and a normally closed bleed damper provided to vent part of the circulating fluid when the blower is operated.

United States Patent [1 1 Buckley et a1.

[ STEAM AIR CABINET FINISHER [75] Inventors: Norman A. Buckley,Wauwatosa;

Peter D. Rasmussen, Cedarburg, both of Wis.

[73] Assignee: McGraw-Edison Company, Elgin,

Ill.

[22] Filed: Mar. 24, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 127,471

34/D1G. 13; 8/147, 149.3, 150, 142; 68/5 C, 20,18 R; 312/271, 273, 321

[ 56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,696,523 10/1972 Beeley eta1. 34/216 3,114,919 12/1963 Kenreich... 68/20 3,166,923 l/1965 Zacks68/5 2,845,786 8/1958 Chrisman.. 68/18 R 2,773,314 10/1956 Gauff 34/163X 1,829,139 10/1931 Henderson.... 34/DlG. 13 3,644,085 2/1972 Beeley eta1. 68/20 X 1,825,790 10/1931 Hansen 34/219 UX Primary Examiner-John J.Camby Assistant Examiner-Henry C. Yuen Atl0rneyCharles F. Lind 1 June19, 1973 [57] ABSTRACT A steam air finisher having an enclosure definingcabinet including a door that can be opened to provide access to theenclosure, a garment support rack or holder and means mounting the rackto move between an outer loading and unloading position generallyoutside the cabinet enclosure and an inner operating position andlinkage connecting the door to the rack that causes such rack movementupon movement of the door between its open and closed positions, wherebygarments to be finished are typically hung on conventional hangers whichin turn are hooked on the rack and carried thereon, shaker mechanismlocated within the cabinet which cooperates with the rack when thelatter is in the inner position to mechanically reciprocate the hangercrosswise to the normal plane of the hung garment, steam inlet meanslocated near the bottom of the enclosure also including an opening foradmitting outside air into the enclosure concurrently with and upon thedischarge of steam for cooling the steam yet providing a high humidityconditioning atmosphere, means for circulating drying fluid over thegarments including a blower having an inlet located near the bottom ofthe enclosure and an outlet to a passage separate from the enclosurewith a heat exchanger in the passage between the blower outlet and thepassage return to the enclosure near the top thereof effective forcirculating heated fluid, such as air downwardly over and past thegarments, and a normally closed bleed damper provided to vent part ofthe circulating fluid when the blower is operated.

13 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures 1 STEAM AIR CABINET FINISIIER In finishinggarments after cleaning or the like, it is frequently only necessary tocondition the garment with a conditioning fluid such as steam and thendry the garment with heated air provided the garment can be dressed orheld during this cycle in the wrinkle-free condition. This finishing ineffect actually only returns the garment to its original manufacturedcondition which was wrinkle-free.

One disadvantage of some finishers is that the garments must beindividually dressed on a specific finisher form and even then requiresome hand touch up for good quality work so that the consequent cost perfinishing each garment is quite high. Another disadvantage of manyfinishers is that only certain garments can be finished on the specificdressing forms provided, which limits the versatility and appeal of thefinisher. Other drawbacks of some finishers are the high initial costcasued by complex construction or operation, and high likelihood ofdamaging the garment by stretching, or shrinking, or ripping it duringthe finishing cycle.

This invention relates to an improved finisher of the type classified asa batch box where more than one garment can be finished during any oneoperating cycle.

A basic object of this invention is to provide a finisher having asimplified garment holding means where a conventional wire or woodhanger can hold most garments to be finished and where the hanger inturn can be easily loaded on a support rack or holder while it isconveniently and accessibly situated relative to an operator but furtherwhich rack and garments thereon almost effortlessly can be moved towithin a generally tight enclosure for the finishing cycle.

Another object of the invention is to provide in a finisher a mechanismfor mechanically shaking the garments in a controlled manner selectivelyduring the conditioning and/or the drying phases of the finishing cyclewhereby most if not all undesired wrinkles can be shaken from thegarment to leave it in virtually wrinklefree condition.

A more detailed object of this invention is to provide simplifiedstructure for accomplishing the preceeding objects whereby the shakingmechanism works in conjunction with the garment support rack or holderbut only when the latter is in the inner operating position.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved manner ofshaking the garments while hanging in the finisher where although theshaking can be quite violent it is in a direction crosswise to thenormal plane defined by the hanging garments to set up a general wavepattern in each garment itself so that conditioning fluid such asmoistening steam and/or drying air in the finisher is both driven by andover the garments but also into the garments for thoroughly conditioningand removing unwanted wrinkles for high quality finishing.

Another object of this invention is to have a garment support rack orholder which automatically is shifted between its outer accessibleloading or unloading position and its inner operating or finishingposition inside the enclosure merely by and upon the operator opening orclosing the access door of the cabinet.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved means ofconditioning the garments where ordinarily available high pressure steamcan be discharged and automatically cooled to a lower temperature tomoisten the garments without exposing them to the possibly damaging highvaporizing temperature of the raw steam while yet having no noticableproblem of water droplet formation in the conditioning atmosphere.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved operatingcycle where conditioning fluid can be admitted to the cabinet enclosureduring which time and for a period thereafter the garments aremechanically shaken in the conditioning atmosphere to utilize theconditioning fluid by complete and more thorough penetration into thegarments.

Another object of this invention is to provide improved means for dryingthe garments as suspended in the finisher specifically by bleeding offpart of the air typically most ladened with moisture automatically onlyduring the drying phase of the finishing cycle, thereby minimizing theheating capacity of the air and waste of steam leakage during theconditioning phase of the finishing cycle.

These and other objects of this invention will be more fully understoodand appreciated after reviewing the following specification, theaccompanying drawings forming a part thereof, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a preferred embodiment of thesubject finisher, except having part of the structure broken away forclarity of disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a broken away rear elevational view of the unit shown in FIG.1;

FIG. 3 is a broken away side elevational view of the unit as seen fromthe right of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a plan type sectional view as seen from line 4--4 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view as seen generally from line 5-5 in FIG. 4,except showing the garment support rack in its inner operating positionwith a hanger and garment thereon as typically oriented relative to suchstructure; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the shaker mechanism and garment supportrack as seen generally looking upwardly from the access opening of thecabinet.

As shown, the finisher 10 includes a cabinet 12 having opposed sidewalls 14, a rear wall 16, opposed top and bottom walls 18 and 20respectively, and a front wall 21 having an access opening. Doors 22 arehinged along side hinges 24 to the front wall 21 and cooperate whenclosed to define an enclosure within the cabinet. The doors and wallsare insulated with plastic or other conventional insulations, and a heatcoil 28 preferably is located on the bottom wall with a watertight tray29 of aluminum or othr heat conductive material overlying this heatcoil. The insulated walls keeps heat in the cabinet while the heatedfloor drives off condensation collected on the floor back into theenclosure.

A blower 32 is mounted adjacent the rear wall 16 and has its inlet 34open to the enclosure and spaced slightly above the floor and has itsoutlet 35 open to within passage 36 defined between the rear wall 16 anda partition 38 which extends between the side walls 14 upwardly tooutlet 40 for discharge back to the enclo sure. A perferated plate orscreen 42 acts as a lower continuation of the partition 38 to cover theinlet 34 of the blower for protectively keeping the garments frompossibly becoming entangled in the blower. A heat exchanger 44 typicallyoperated off of steam is located near the upper discharge end of thechannel 36 to heat the fluid discharged to within the enclosure upon theoperation of the blower.

generally For introducing conditioning steam into the enclosure, opening46 is provided in the rear wall 16 and a tubular element 48 projectsinto the enclosure to just short of perforated plate 42, and a steampipe 50 is centrally located within the tube 48 with its nozzle directedfor radial discharge inwardly towards the enclosure. The steam pipe 50is supported from a steam separator tank 52 wich is typically connectedto a high pressure steam system of 50 100 psig having vaporizingtemperatures higher than 275 325 F. With the structure noted herein,steam discharge from pipe 50 draws in outside air in specific volumesdepending on the size of tube 48 for admixture with the steam whichthereby lowers the effective temperature of the enclosure atmospherewithout reducing the conditioning level of moisture. An absorbant clothtype sleeve 54 is used to cover the tube both on the inside and outsideand around the inboard end so that any drippings from the nozzle orother condensate will not be splattered as drops into the enclousre butwill be only driven off as humidity.

A bleed outlet 56 is formed from the enclousre and preferably from thechannel or passage 36 downstream of the blower outlet 35 but upstream inthe flow pattern from the heat exchanger 44. A butterfly type damper 58is counterbalanced to be closed under normal equilized pressureconditions between the passage and the outside ambient air. Uponoperation of the blower, the back pressure created by the heat exchangerincreases the channel pressure to above that of the outside air so thatthe damper opens to bleed off a set of percentage of approximatelypercent of blower air to the outside. Because the damper is separatedfrom the enclosure by the heat exchanger and the blower, discharge ofsteam into the enclosure normally does not sufficiently open the damperto significant quantities of steam from the enclosure. Moreover, whenthe blower is operated, as during the drying phase of the finisher cycleand the damper opens, the fluid is that is bled off is from the moistureladen air returning from the enclosure and before being heated by heatexchanger 44.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 6, the garment support rack or holder and theshaker mechanism are shown. The holder or rack 60 has a generallyhorizontally disposed bar 62 that is connected at its ends to sideelements 64, and the side elements 64 are connected to a front plate 66that extend across and closes the top part of the access opening abovethe doors 22. Rails 68 are located along the inner faces of the sidewalls 14 and appropriate antifriction means, such as roller bearings orthe like (not shown), are connected between the rails 68 and the sideelements 64 for mounting the rack 60 to move front to rear of the unitin a direction parallel to the rails 68. A pair of links 70 arepivotally connected at each inner end 72 to a cross bar part of the rack60 and at each outer end 74 to spaced ears on one or the other of thedoors 22. Consequently, upon opening eithr door with the use of a handle76 provided thereon, the other door not only likewise opens but thesupport rack shifts from its inner operating position (FIGS. 3 and 5) toits outer loading and unloading position (phantom in FIG. 4). l

The horizontally oriented bar 62 has at its upper edge spaced teeth orfingers (FIG. 6) that define therebetween upwardly open receiving slots78 that are disposed along the direction of the bar 62 at spacings ofapproximately 2 to 3 inches. These slots 78 are adapted to receive andlaterally confine the hook portion 80 of a conventional hanger (FIG. 5),with diverging faces 82 on opposite sides of each slot assisting theoperator in placing the hanger on the holder with the minimum ofsearching.

The outer loading and unloading position of the garment rack 60 isgenerally outside of the enclosure forward of the front cabinet wall andat this position the doors 22 are fully swung well beyond a 90 arc andare sidewardly removed from any interference with the rack. The operatorcan then easily load or unload a group of garments as they are hung onconventional hangers into or from the appropriate receiving slots of thesupport rack 60 since the rack is conveniently accessible outside of theenclosure. There is sufficient spacing provided between the slots thatthere is some clearance between adjacent garments even with each slotused, but if bulky overcoats or the like are finished in the unit, it isobvious that a slot or two can be skipped to provide greater clearancebetween adjacent garments. Preferably the garments can be predressed onhangers and the hangers hung on a portable rack or the like locatedoutside of the finishing enclosure so that an operator can stand betweenthe portable rack and the finisher and merely transfer the garments toor from the finisher. Once all garments are appropriately hung on thesupport rack 60, the operator need only close the doors 22 which throughthe linkage shifts the rack 60 rearwardly until it is locatedapproximately centrally spaced front to rear of the unit between theclosed doors and the inner partition wall 38. At this location, a pinelement 84 on the closure element 66 (FIG. 4) rides past a detent member86 (FIG. 6) and thereby holds the element across the access opening andconcurrently holds the doors closed and the support rack in its inneroperating position.

The particular shaker mechanism 90 will now be disclosed, and it can beseen clearly in FIGS. 3 6. The shaker includes a horizontal bar 92 whichis mounted in appropriate bearings or the like 94 at its opposite endsso that it can reciprocate laterally of the enclosure in a directiongenerally parallel to its length. A shaft 96 is rotatably supported byappropriate bearings and extends from within the enclosure through therear wall 16 of the unit where a motor 98 (FIG. 2) is connected by aconventional pulley and a belt configuration 100 to rotate the shaft. Aneccentric plate 102 is keyed to the shaft and thereby rotates therewith,and a link 104 is connected at one end to the eccentric and at the otherend through bracket 106 to reciprocating bar 92.

Operation of the motor 98 causes the bar 92 to oscillate or reciprocatelaterally of the enclosure with a stroke preferably of b to 2 inches orapproximately twice the throw of the eccentric plate 102.

Bar 92 has a horizontally spaced tooth arrangement like the verticaltooth arrangement of the support bar 62, including horizontally openreceiving slots 108 and the adjacent diverging side edges 110. Theshaker mechanism bar 92 is located at a vertically orientationapproximately 1 k to 3 inches below the support bar 62 such that theslot 108 receives and laterally confines the stem or neck part 112 ofthe hanger hung from the receiving slot 78 of the support bar when therack 60 is in its inner operating position. Consequently, upon anoperator closing the cabinet door 22 and moving the support rack 60 toits inner operating position, each hanger supported on the rack isautomatically laterally confined in a corresponding slot 108 on theshaker mechanism bar 92 to bring the hanger under the two point lateralcontrol of the hook 80 at support 60 and I the stem or neck 1 12 at theshaker actuator 90.

Upon actuation of motor 98, the shaker bar 92 is caused to oscillatelaterally of the enclosure to swing each hanger as confined at the twopoint restrain of the hook 8t and neck 112 about the hook support in adirection generally laterally or crosswise to the plane normally assumedby the garment as it is hung on the hanger. In the preferred embodiment,the motor is at least a two-speed motor and can in fact be an infinitelyvariable speed motor where the speed of oscillation can be varied frombetween possibly 50 cycles per minute to 600 cpm. In any regard, sincethe garment as hung on the hanger shoulder 114 and as urged by thehanger cross element 116 is physically moved some, between at least 5%.to l b inches on the low side and possibly 4 to 6 inches on the highside in a direction crosswise to the plane it normally assumes whensuspended freely, and since the hanger movement is uniform, the garmentitself assumes a wave configuration which wave moves down the length ofthe garment away from the hanger support. This wave action of thegarments has a tendency to circulate conditioning fluid in the enclosurefrom the top to the bottom between the garments and back up along theenclosure walls. This garment movement gives more complete penetrationinto the garment of the conditioning fluid and moreover removes wrinklesfrom the garment better than when subjected to fluid movement only. Thesteam entering the cabinet fromthe lower part is circulated upwardlyalong the side edges of the garment and then downwardly between adjacentgarments and this garment wave action is effect forces the garments intothe steam for firstly good usage of the steam and secondly goodconditioning of the garments. The same effective usage is made of dryingair admitted through the opening 40 as caused by the operating blower.

In the typical use of the subject finisher, the operator would load aplurality of garments as hung on hangers in the receiving slots 78 ofthe support rack 60 while the rack is in the outer loading position.Upon closing the doors the rack automatically moves through the linkageconnection 70 to its inner operating poistion where the hanger stems 112thereby become laterally confined within the slots 108 fo the shakeractuator bar 92. Appropriate controls can be provided for operating theshaker motor 98 if at all or at the various high or low speed desired.The conditioning phase of the cycle would then be instigated and steamwould be discharged from the pipe 50 drawing admixing cooling air inthrough the tube 48 for common discharge into the enclosure. During thissteam discharge time the shaker actuator can be operated which pumps thesteam about the enclosure as noted. After the steam discharge hasconcluded the garments can be continuingly agitated to effectively usethe moisture in the enclosure atmosphere by penetration into thegarments during what can be considered a soak phase of the cycle. Thedrying phase of the cycle then begins with the blower 32 being operatedto circulate heated air within the enclosure and to drive part of thereturning moist air from the enclosure through the now open damperoutlet 56. Circulation of the heated air downwardly over and past theundulating garments drys the garments and leaves the garments generallywrinklefree. Again, an appropriate control can be used for operating theshaker agitator during the crying cycle at any fast or slow speed ofoscillation depending upon the type of garments. After the drying phaseof the finishing cycle has been concluded, the operator need only openthe doors whereupon the finished garments supported on rack 60automatically move to the outer accessible unloading position where thegarments can then be unloaded still suspended on the hanger andtransferred for packaging or the like onto a slick rail, portable rack,or other such auxilliary component.

What is claimed:

1. A garment finisher, comprising a walled cabinet having an accessopening and a pair of adjacent side hinged doors selectively closing theopening to define an interior enclosure, means to discharge aconditioning fluid in the enclosure, an elongated rack for holding aplurality of garments to be finished in side-by-side relationship withinthe enclosure each such garment generally being hung on a conventionalhanger having a hook and a lower stem, spaced rails extended within theenclosure toward the access opening and antifriction means on the rackengaged with the rails for mounting the rack to move between an inneroperating position located within the enclosure and an outer loading orunloading position located generally at the access opening, linkagemeans connected between the doors and the rack operable upon movement ofthe doors between the closed and the opened positions automatically tomove the rack between its inner and outer positions respectively, andmeans for circulating drying fluid in the enclosure over and past thegarments therein.

2. A garment finisher according to claim 1, wherein said rack includesan elongated element having a top edge defining a plurality of upwardlyopen narrow spaced slots and inclined edges diverging upwardly fromopposite sides of each slot whereby for loading the finisher each hangerhook can be guided by the inclined edges to the respective slot and eachslot is adapted to receive and support the hook with little possiblehook movement along the rack.

3. A garment finisher according to claim 2, further including means toreciprocate all supported hangers in a direction generally transverse tothe normal plane of the garment as hung thereon operable while the rackis located in the inner operating position, each garment therebyassuming a wave of undulating movement which progresses along thegarment downwardly from the hanger.

4. A garment finisher according to claim 1, wherein said fluidcirculating means includes a passage separate from the enclosure, ablower having a inlet open to the enclosure and outlet open to thepassage, a heat exchanger in the passage downstream of the blower butupstream of the passage outlet to the enclousre, and means including ableed opening from the passage between the blower outlet and heatexchanger to outside the cabinet operable for venting part of thecirculating fluid from the enclosure upon operation of the blower.

5. A garment finisher, comprising a walled cabinet having an accessopening and a door selectively closing the opening to define an interiorenclosure, means to discharge a conditioning fluid in the enclosure,means for holding a garment to be finished within the enclosure suchgarment generally being hung on a conventional hanger having a hook anda lower stem, means for mounting the holding means to move between aninner operating position located within the enclosure and an outerloading or unloading position located generally at the access opening,means connected between the door and the holding means operable uponmovement of the door between its closed and opened positionsautomatically to move the holding means between its inner and outerpositions respectively, means for circulating drying fluid in theenclosure over and past the garments therein means to reciprocate allsupported hangers in a direction generally transverse to the normalplane of the garment as hung thereon operable while the holding means islocated in the inner operating position, each garment thereby assuming awave or undulating movement which progresses along the garmentdownwardly from the hanger, said reciprocating means including anactuator element located at an elevation lower than the holding meansand having means to receive and laterally confine the hangers supportedon the holding means when the holding means is in the inner operatingposition to bring the hanger under two point confinement at the holdingmeans and the actuator element, and means to reciprocate the actuatorelement in a direction generally crosswise to the two point confinementrelative to the holding means.

6. A garment finisher, comprising a walled cabinet having an accessopening and a door for selectively closing the opening to define aninterior enclosure, means to discharge a conditioning fluid into theenclosure and including a tube communicating between the enclosure andthe outside ambient air and a steam nozzle located with clearance withinthe tube whereby steam discharge from the nozzle into the enclosuredraws outside ambient air throuth the tube for admixture and commondischarge with the steam into the enclosure, mans for holding garmentsto be finished within the enclosure such garments being hung onconventional hangers each having an upper hook and a lower stem, meansfor circulating drying fluid downwardly from above the holding means andover and past garments in the enclosure and including means defining apassage separate from the enclosure and a blower having an inlet open tothe lower portion of the enclosure and an outlet open to the passagewhich in turn communicates with the upper portion of the sure, a heatexchanger in the passage downstream of the blower but upstream of thedischarge to the enclousre, means including a bleed opening from thepassage between the blower and heat exchanger to outside the cabinet andhaving a normally closed damper that opens upon blower operation forventing part of the circulating fluid from the enclosure means to shakeall supported hangers and move the garments hung thereon in a directiongenerally crosswise to the plane of the garment as freely suspended onthe hanger, means supporting the holding means to move between an inneroperating position centrally located in the enclosure and an outerloading and unloading position located generally outside of theenclosure at the access opening, and wherein the shaking means includesmeans to engage and confine each hanger on the holding means when thelatter is in the inner position but which engaging and confining meansbecome disengaged from the hanger when the holding means is in the outerposition.

7. A garment finisher according to claim 6, wherein means are connectedbetween the door and the holding means operable upon movement of thedoor between its closed and the opened positions automatically to movethe holding means between its inner and outer positions, respectively.

8. A garment finisher comprising a walled cabinet generally defining aninterior enclosure, means to discharge a conditioning fluid in theenclosure, a rack for holding a plurality' of garments to be finishedwithin the enclosure each such garment generally being hung on a hangerhaving an upper hook portion and a lower stem portion and the hookportion being confined on the rack, means to shake each hanger andgarment thereon in a direction transverse to the garment as it is hungon the hanger whereby the garment assumes a wave or undulating patternthat progresses from the hanger downwardly along the garment, saidshaking means being located below the rack and having means to engageandconfine the stern portions of the hangers against movement in thedirection tran verse to the garments as hung on the hangers, wherebyeach hanger is under the two point confinement of the rack and theshaking means, and means to reciprocate the shaking means relative tothe rack in a direction generally transverse to the garments as hung onthe hanger.

9. A garment finisher according to claim 8, wherein the cabinet has anaccess opening and closure means therefor, and further including supportmeans for the rack suitable for moving the rack between an inneroperating position within the enclosure and an outer loading orunloading position located generally at the access opening, and whereinthe engaging and confining means of the shaking means operates only onthe hanger stem portions only when the rack is in the inner position andbecomes disengaged from the hanger stem portions when the rack is in theouter position.

10. A garment finisher according to claim 9, wherein said engaging andconfining means includes an elongated element having an edge locatedadjacent the rack at a level to line up with the stem portions of thecarried hanger, said edge having a plurality of narrow slots spacedapart corresponding to the spacing of the confined hook portions on therack and further having inclined edges diverging away from the oppositesides of each slot, whereby the diverging edges guide the stem portionsof the hangers to each respective confining slot during the movement ofthe rack to its inner operating position.

11. A garment finisher according to claim 10, wherein the shaking meansincludes a shaft supported to rotate about an axis generally parallel tothe movement of the rack into and out of the cabinet, means to rotatethe shaft, means supporting the elongated element for reciprocationparallel to the rack, and linkage means between the shaft and theelongated element operable upon rotation of the former to reciprocatethe latter.

12. A garment finisher according to claim 9, wherein the closure meansincludes a pair of doors hinged along vertical outer edges to thecabinet, and linkage means connected between each door near its inneredge and the rack operable upon movement of the doors between the closedand open positions to move the rack automatically between its inner andouter positions, respectively.

13. A garment finisher according to claim 12, wherein the rack includesspaced side elements extended forwardly of the confined hook portions ofthe hanger, and wherein the closure means includes a front plate whichmoves with the rack and extends across and closes the upper part of theaccess opening.

l l t i

1. A garment finisher, comprising a walled cabinet having an accessopening and a pair of adjacent side hinged doors selectively closing theopening to define an interior enclosure, means to discharge aconditioning fluid in the enclosure, an elongated rack for holding aplurality of garments to be finished in side-by-side relationship withinthe enclosure each such garment generally being hung on a conventionalhanger having a hook and a lower stem, spaced rails extended within theenclosure toward the access opening and antifriction means on the rackengaged with the rails for mounting the rack to move between an inneroperating position located within the enclosure and an outer loading orunloading position located generally at the access opening, linkagemeans connected between the doors and the rack operable upon movement ofthe doors between the closed and the opened positions automatically tomove the rack between its inner and outer positions respectively, andmeans for circulating drying fluid in the enclosure over and past thegarments therein.
 2. A garment finisher according to claim 1, whereinsaid rack includes an elongated element having a top edge defining aplurality of upwardly open narrow spaced slots and inclined edgesdiverging upwardly from opposite sides of each slot whereby for loadingthe finisher each hanger hook can be guided by the inclined edges to therespective slot and each slot is adapted to receive and support the hookwith little possible hook movement along the rack.
 3. A garment finisheraccording to claim 2, further including means to reciprocate allsupported hangers in a direction generally transverse to the normalplane of the garment as hung thereon operable while the rack is locatedin the inner operating position, each garment thereby assuming a wave ofundulating movement which progresses along the garment downwardly fromthe hanger.
 4. A garment finisher according to claim 1, wherein saidfluid circulating means includes a passage separate from the enclosure,a blower having a inlet open to the enclosure and outlet open to thepassage, a heat exchanger in the passage downstream of the blower butupstream of the passage outlet to the enclousre, and means including ableed opening from the passage between the blower outlet and heatexchanger to outside the cabinet operable for venting part of thecirculating fluid from the enclosure upon operation of the blower.
 5. Agarment finisher, comprising a walled cabinet having an access openingand a door selectively closing the opening to define an interiorenclosure, means to discharge a conditioning fluid in the enclosure,means for holding a garment to be finished within the enclosure suchgarment generally being hung on a conventional hanger having a hook anda lower stem, means for mounting the holding means to move between aninner operating position located within the enclosure and an outerloading or unloading position located generally at the access opening,means connected between the door and the holding means operable uponmovement of the door between its closed and opened positionsautomatically to move the holding means between its inner and outerpositions respectively, means for circulating drying fluid in theenclosure over and past the garments therein means to reciprocate allsupported hangers in a direction generally transverse to the normalplane of the garment as hung thereon operable while the holding means islocated In the inner operating position, each garment thereby assuming awave or undulating movement which progresses along the garmentdownwardly from the hanger, said reciprocating means including anactuator element located at an elevation lower than the holding meansand having means to receive and laterally confine the hangers supportedon the holding means when the holding means is in the inner operatingposition to bring the hanger under two point confinement at the holdingmeans and the actuator element, and means to reciprocate the actuatorelement in a direction generally crosswise to the two point confinementrelative to the holding means.
 6. A garment finisher, comprising awalled cabinet having an access opening and a door for selectivelyclosing the opening to define an interior enclosure, means to dischargea conditioning fluid into the enclosure and including a tubecommunicating between the enclosure and the outside ambient air and asteam nozzle located with clearance within the tube whereby steamdischarge from the nozzle into the enclosure draws outside ambient airthrouth the tube for admixture and common discharge with the steam intothe enclosure, mans for holding garments to be finished within theenclosure such garments being hung on conventional hangers each havingan upper hook and a lower stem, means for circulating drying fluiddownwardly from above the holding means and over and past garments inthe enclosure and including means defining a passage separate from theenclosure and a blower having an inlet open to the lower portion of theenclosure and an outlet open to the passage which in turn communicateswith the upper portion of the sure, a heat exchanger in the passagedownstream of the blower but upstream of the discharge to the enclousre,means including a bleed opening from the passage between the blower andheat exchanger to outside the cabinet and having a normally closeddamper that opens upon blower operation for venting part of thecirculating fluid from the enclosure means to shake all supportedhangers and move the garments hung thereon in a direction generallycrosswise to the plane of the garment as freely suspended on the hanger,means supporting the holding means to move between an inner operatingposition centrally located in the enclosure and an outer loading andunloading position located generally outside of the enclosure at theaccess opening, and wherein the shaking means includes means to engageand confine each hanger on the holding means when the latter is in theinner position but which engaging and confining means become disengagedfrom the hanger when the holding means is in the outer position.
 7. Agarment finisher according to claim 6, wherein means are connectedbetween the door and the holding means operable upon movement of thedoor between its closed and the opened positions automatically to movethe holding means between its inner and outer positions, respectively.8. A garment finisher comprising a walled cabinet generally defining aninterior enclosure, means to discharge a conditioning fluid in theenclosure, a rack for holding a plurality of garments to be finishedwithin the enclosure each such garment generally being hung on a hangerhaving an upper hook portion and a lower stem portion and the hookportion being confined on the rack, means to shake each hanger andgarment thereon in a direction transverse to the garment as it is hungon the hanger whereby the garment assumes a wave or undulating patternthat progresses from the hanger downwardly along the garment, saidshaking means being located below the rack and having means to engageand confine the stem portions of the hangers against movement in thedirection tran verse to the garments as hung on the hangers, wherebyeach hanger is under the two point confinement of the rack and theshaking means, and means to reciprocate the shaking means relative tothe rack in a direction generally transverse to the garments as hung onthe hanger.
 9. A garmEnt finisher according to claim 8, wherein thecabinet has an access opening and closure means therefor, and furtherincluding support means for the rack suitable for moving the rackbetween an inner operating position within the enclosure and an outerloading or unloading position located generally at the access opening,and wherein the engaging and confining means of the shaking meansoperates only on the hanger stem portions only when the rack is in theinner position and becomes disengaged from the hanger stem portions whenthe rack is in the outer position.
 10. A garment finisher according toclaim 9, wherein said engaging and confining means includes an elongatedelement having an edge located adjacent the rack at a level to line upwith the stem portions of the carried hanger, said edge having aplurality of narrow slots spaced apart corresponding to the spacing ofthe confined hook portions on the rack and further having inclined edgesdiverging away from the opposite sides of each slot, whereby thediverging edges guide the stem portions of the hangers to eachrespective confining slot during the movement of the rack to its inneroperating position.
 11. A garment finisher according to claim 10,wherein the shaking means includes a shaft supported to rotate about anaxis generally parallel to the movement of the rack into and out of thecabinet, means to rotate the shaft, means supporting the elongatedelement for reciprocation parallel to the rack, and linkage meansbetween the shaft and the elongated element operable upon rotation ofthe former to reciprocate the latter.
 12. A garment finisher accordingto claim 9, wherein the closure means includes a pair of doors hingedalong vertical outer edges to the cabinet, and linkage means connectedbetween each door near its inner edge and the rack operable uponmovement of the doors between the closed and open positions to move therack automatically between its inner and outer positions, respectively.13. A garment finisher according to claim 12, wherein the rack includesspaced side elements extended forwardly of the confined hook portions ofthe hanger, and wherein the closure means includes a front plate whichmoves with the rack and extends across and closes the upper part of theaccess opening.